[Elecraft] Farnsworth CW

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

It sounds to me like you are doing it exactly "right", David, if there =
is
such a thing as the "right" way.=20

Balance. Use the various spacings to help you without drilling an odd
cadence into your mind, just like George, W5YR, suggested. =20

Thinking back when I was learning code, I'm reminded that us OT's who =
got
our licenses in the 50's, 60' and even the 70's had a real advantage =
missing
for a lot of the ops today. The "Novice" bands were FILLED with Novices
working on their speed by "chewing the rag".=20

It bothers me how many fairly new ops report QSO's cut short by the =
other
station again and again. They suspect that the cause was their sending =
or
that their speed might not being exactly what the other station =
"expected".=20

I'm never so busy that I can't slow down for a chat with someone at any
speed. And as much as I grumble about sending "Farnsworth" spacing, I =
work
very hard to do that if that's what the other station needs to copy. I'm =
not
just being nice. I see it as an investment in the future of the CW =
bands.=20

Besides, to paraphrase the tag line of one of our regulars here, "Real =
Hams
Help Other Hams."=20

Ron AC7AC

-----Original Message-----
I did not expect all of this feedback.  Thank you all.  :-)

Perhaps it is just me, but I seem to have no problem separating my =
receiving
(I have been religious about copying in my head) and my sending.  On
receiving I don't seem to have such a problem receiving at slower and
regular spacing.  And I keep my sending as close to proper spacing as I =
can.
But what I am trying to avoid is learning the characters by counting
elements and instead learning the sound of each letter, which was my =
death
when I learned at 5wpm tried getting past 10wpm.

It is not that I don't understand the cadence and it's importance.  In =
fact
I understand it to be the key to good copy.  The rhythm as far as I
understand is the key to copying above 15 to 20wpm without a computer.  =
And
because of this I have taken great pains to keeping my sending even and
properly spaced.  I just keep sending and receiving as separate skills =
in my
head.

Do you think I am just going the wrong way?

dt
.